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US Field Hockey Men to Compete in Mexico Four Nation Tournament

Colorado Springs, Colo. – The U.S. Field Hockey men’s national team will get a good look at some possible entries into next year’s Pan American Games, when the U.S. joins Cuba, Venezuela and host Mexico in a four nation tournament, August 9-11 in Salamanca.

Head coach Shiv Jagday will take a relatively young team to the tournament, with seven members of the squad in line to receive their first international caps. Veteran forward Shawn Hindy (Westlake Village, Calif.) anchors the 16-member squad along with 1999 Pan American Games teammates Jang Badhesha (Santa Clara, Calif.), Rhinku Bhamber (Simi Valley, Calif.) and Pat Cota (Camarillo, Calif.). The four starters were joined by tour teammates Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.), Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Koijan Kainth (Fullerton, Calif.), Daraspreet Kainth (Fullerton, Calif.) and Todd Robinson (Ventura, Calif.) as members of last year’s U.S. World Cup Qualifying Tournament team that placed 14^th in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Among the players making their first official international appearances for the U.S. are goalkeepers Jeb Saez (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Afzal Siddiqui (Berkeley, Calif.) along with Arjan Reyatt (Brea, Calif.), David Schmoyer (Doyelstown, Pa.), Bryan Raushenberger (Simi Valley, Calif.), Chris Terrebonne (Marlow Bucks, UK) and 16-year old Malachi Mahan (Camarillo, Calif.).

The tournament could serve as a Pan Am preview for head coach Shiv Jagday and the U.S. men. Cuba earned the bronze medal at the 1999 Games and Mexico placed 7^th in the seven-team field in Winnipeg. The U.S. earned a fifth place finish in 1999. Venezuela last appeared in the Pan American Games in 1991 where the team placed 8^th.  

Coming off its first ever World Cup appearance in 2002, Cuba is the defending Pan American Cup (formerly Americas Cup) champion after earning victories over perennial Pan Am powers Argentina and Canada at the 2000 tournament. The win sent Cuba to the 2002 World Cup where the team went 0-9 and finished last in the 16-team field.  The U.S. last met Cuba at the 1999 Pan Am Games where Cuba pulled out a 4-2 victory to advance to the bronze medal game.

The U.S. team has had recent success against Mexico including a 6-0 win at the 2000 Americas Cup and a 6-0 win at the 1999 Pan American Games.

Continuing to build a hockey foundation, Venezuela finished 10^th in the 11-team Americas Cup in 2000. The team went winless at the tournament, but collected a pair of draws against Barbados (0-0) and Peru (2-2).

The 2003 Pan American Games, scheduled for Aug. 1-16 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, will feature an 8-team field including the host team (Domincan Republic), defending champion (Canada), the top two teams from the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games (Dec. 2-8, San Salvador, El Salvador) and the first place team from the 2003 South American Games. The remaining and spots will be filled based on the 2000 Americas Cup standings.

The U.S. battled another potential Pan Am foe, Chile, in a three-game series last month in Moorpark, Calif. Chile edged the U.S. 2-1 in two of the games, with the other match ending in a 2-2 draw.

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